Maggie’s Quinoa & Adzuki Bean Veggie Burgers

If you’ve been reading my posts lately, you know I’ve been working on getting more plant-based foods into my diet. No, I haven’t sworn off eggs, dairy, and meat. But I have been much more mindful about eating lots of phytonutrient packed fruits, vegetables, and beans especially since I learned about their disease-preventing characteristics.

I was poking around Maggie’s site looking for something healthy to make because:

I adore her.

We talk every week on Skype.

She is a smart cook and I trust her nutrition sense.

It just so happened that I was at Whole Foods the day before (no, they didn’t pay me to say that…) and brought home some organic adzuki beans. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them until I happened across Maggie’s recipe for Adzuki & Quinoa Veggie Burgers. Serendipity.
Maggie shared the magic trick to getting bean burgers to stay together when you cook them – pop them in the oven! I have a tasty recipe for Black Bean Veggie Burgers in my book but I used eggs to help them stay together when I threw them in a hot pan. These burgers are egg-free so baking made perfect sense.

I made a few changes to Maggie’s original recipe. You can check out her version here.

A Little About Adzuki Beans…

Since adzuki beans are small, I learned that they don’t have to be soaked prior to cooking. It was quick and simple – just simmered them for an hour and they were ready.

What’s so special about these little beans? Like all beans, they’re a great source of soluable fiber which can help lower cholesterol and are rich in potassium, folate, and magneesium which can benefit heart health.

And, if you don’t care about nutrition, they just taste good.

Where are you on the plant-based/meat-based continuum?

Yields makes 8 - 12 burgers

Maggie’s Quinoa & Adzuki Bean Burgers

A tasty bean burger recipe made with adzuki beans and high-protein quinoa. Adapted from She Let Them Eat Cake . Egg-free. Dairy-free. Gluten-free.

Do you know much about phytic acid? The soaking is recommended not for reduced cooking times, but to increase nutrients and decrease anti-nutrients; phytic acid is one.
If you eat beans frequently I would definitely soak them. If you are only eating them occasionally and don't get gassy from them, I'm sure you can get away with not soaking, but if you are trying to eat less meat I imagine you will be eating them much more often now.
The Weston A. Price foundation has some really great information on this topic.

@Rachel @ Rediscovering the Kitchen, I actually got my information from my friend, Ali's book, Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. Her recommendation is that smaller beans don't have to be soaked. I found that this worked really well. The cooking time wasn't reduced at all but the beans had the perfect bite.
I know that there are different schools of thought on this.

@Rachel @ Rediscovering the Kitchen, She has a bean cooking chart but that's all I looked at. She did say some small beans don't need to be soaked.
Lentils are a legume and I have never soaked them.
The book is great if you like whole foods, gluten-free cooking. :)
I know that some people follow Westin A. Price to the letter and others have different ideas, experience, and research about food and they go by that. A great example is Dr. Joel Furman who writes about plant-based diets. He doesn't advocate vegetarian/vegan but he does advocate for the majority of our diet coming from plant based sources. He cites studies why diets heavy in meat can increase cancer rates. He also goes into extensive detail about why kids shouldn't have a diet heavy in cow's milk. He always has multiple, sometimes hundreds, of research studies that back him up.

@Amy, I too appreciate and respect Dr. Fuhrman, he has some great things to say that make so much common sense. I cannot eat dairy products (and would limit them anyway) so I know first hand that what is right for one person is not right for everybody. Thank you for the cookbook recommendation, it has been added to my very long wishlist of books!

These sound totally yummy and exactly the kind of thing I love to make! I pretty much bake all of my veggie burgers. . . I have found that they don't stay together when you pan-fry them, no matter what. Here's another fun trick: bake them, wrap and store in the fridge overnight. Next day, grill them on the grill until they're warmed through--like BBQ, but no meat! :D These are going on my "to-try" list!

Hey Amy, did you also know that adzuki beans are also rich in iron? I've used adzuki beans before to make a red bean paste for making dorayaki, a kind of Japanese confection. It's basically the red bean paste sandwiched between two pancakes and it's really good! I posted it on my blog before, in the early days.

Maggie is so smart! I definitely agree, baked vegan burgers work way better than pan-fried! It is so hard to get ones that you can actually grill.
I haven't tried herbamare yet, and keep wondering what all the magic is about it. I must get some.

@Alisa, Herbamare has dried organic herbs along with the salt so you get some flavor with your salt instead of just straight sodium. I wouldn't use it for everything but it does add great flavor for some things.

these look tasty, I like the inclusion of the grated carrot - I'm vegan and it's so much easier to make burgers and sausages than to buy them. Generally mine remain in one piece when I fry them, but I always pop them in the oven if I've made some potato wedges, or am roasting vegetables:)

@Amy, there's a recipe for "green burgers" on my blog at http://christineeatsglutenfreevegan.blogspot.com which shows the burgers in the frying pan:) There's another for Delicious red kidney bean and tofu burgers, with, again, photos of them in the pan. They both happen to use silken tofu and gluten free crumbs to thicken them, but I don't always use them, and seldom have a failure.

What a fun idea! I am loving this recipe. I typically bake my burgers as well because they do not hold up well in my cast iron skillet. I am really wanting to try these now because I have only bought adzuki beans like once in my life. LOL

Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is fundamental and all. However imagine if you
added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, "pop"!
Your content is excellent but with pics and videos,
this blog could certainly be one of the most beneficial in its niche.
Wonderful blog!

About Amy

Living free of refined sugars and gluten since 2004 has allowed me to live a fulfilled, healthy life. My food cravings, migraines, and depression vanished and was able to maintain a 60+ pound weight loss. Today I live with enormous freedom. Join me as I create healthier food that's delicious. I'll help you do the same.